James Fenimore Cooper

American, 1789–1851

James Fenimore Cooper (1789–1851) was an American novelist who pioneered the frontier adventure genre with his Leatherstocking Tales. The Last of the Mohicans, the most famous novel in the series, depicts colonial America during the French and Indian War through the eyes of frontier scout Natty Bumppo. Cooper was the first major American novelist to achieve international fame, and his romanticized portrayal of the American wilderness shaped how the world imagined the frontier.